The Mighty Don't Kneel or TMDK is a professional wrestling stable consisting of Bad Dude Tito, Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, Robbie Eagles, Shane Haste, and Zack Sabre Jr.
TMDK has also competed as a tag team composed of Nicholls and Haste. The duo have wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Ring of Honor (ROH), Pro Wrestling NOAH, where they won the GHC Tag Team Championship twice, and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where they competed in NXT as TM-61 and The Mighty.
TMDK has also formerly included fellow Australians Elliot Sexton, Jonah Rock, Marcius Pitt and Slex. TMDK has also been said to stand for "Torture, Murder, Destroy, Kill".
History
Formation (2010–2011)
In the autumn of 2010, Australian wrestlers Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste passed a tryout held by Pro Wrestling NOAH and World League Wrestling (WLW) in the United States, which allowed them to begin training at NOAH's dojo. They made their debut for the Japanese promotion on 23 February 2011, and began working together under the team name "TMDK". The Mighty Don't Kneel originated in the Explosive Pro Wrestling (EPW) promotion, where it was a stable, also including Elliot Sexton, Jonah Rock, Marcius Pitt and Slex. Rock and Slex have also represented TMDK in NOAH. Nicholls and Haste then began working regularly for NOAH in the promotion's junior heavyweight tag team division, though it was questioned whether the two actually were under the 100 kg (220 lb) weight limit.
Pro Wrestling NOAH (2011–2016)
On 15 December 2011, Nicholls and Haste received their first shot at the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions, Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki. Shortly afterwards, Nicholls and Haste left the junior heavyweight division.
Back in NOAH, Nicholls and Haste also began breaking out in singles action, taking part in the 2012 Global League Tournament, where Nicholls wrestled KENTA to a draw and defeated Go Shiozaki, while Haste was victorious over Akitoshi Saito and Naomichi Marufuji. In April 2013, Nicholls and Haste took part in their first Global Tag League. Though failing to advance to the finals, they picked up a win over the reigning GHC Tag Team Champions, New Japan Pro Wrestling representatives Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano. This led to a title match between the two teams on 12 May, where Iizuka and Yano retained their title. Earlier that day, NOAH had announced that Nicholls and Haste had signed contracts to become officially affiliated with the promotion. A rubber match between Nicholls and Haste and Iizuka and Yano took place on 7 July and saw TMDK emerge victorious and become the new GHC Tag Team Champions. In September, Nicholls and Haste both began chasing the GHC Heavyweight Championship, but were defeated in back-to-back title matches by the defending champion, KENTA. On 10 December, the Tokyo Sports magazine named Nicholls and Haste the 2013 tag team of the year, with the two becoming the first gaijin team to win the "Best Tag Team Award" since Stan Hansen and Vader in 1998. On 25 January 2014, Nicholls and Haste lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Maybach Taniguchi and GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima.
On 10 January 2015, Nicholls and Haste defeated Dangan Yankies (Masato Tanaka and Takashi Sugiura) to win the GHC Tag Team Championship for the second time. They lost the title to K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) on 11 February. On 28 December 2015, NOAH announced that Nicholls and Haste would leave the promotion following their contracts expiring at the end of the year. On 11 February 2016, NOAH announced that Haste and Nicholls would return to the promotion the following month to take part in a five-show-long farewell tour, entitled "Departure to the World". Their final NOAH match took place on 10 March and saw them defeat Naomichi Marufuji and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya. In February 2016, it was reported that Nicholls and Haste would join WWE's NXT brand following their NOAH farewell tour the following month. WWE confirmed the signings on March 25, 2016.
Independent circuit (2012–2016)
In early 2012, Nicholls and Haste traveled to the United States, where they worked for several promotions, including Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), Ring of Honor (ROH), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In ROH, they won a one-night tournament to earn a match against the Briscoe Brothers at the Showdown in the Sun pay-per-view.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2014–2015)
On 20 December 2014, Haste and Nicholls made their debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), when they, along with Naomichi Marufuji, were revealed as Toru Yano's tag team partners at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome on 4 January 2015. They would go on to win the match, defeating Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka).
World Wrestling Entertainment
NXT (2015–2018)
In June 2015, Nicholls and Haste took part in a WWE tryout camp. In February 2016, it was reported that Nicholls and Haste were scheduled to join WWE's NXT brand following their Noah farewell tour. On March 25, 2016, WWE confirmed the signings of both Nicholls and Haste. They began training at the WWE Performance Center in April, while working for the promotion's developmental branch NXT. During May 19 NXT taping, Haste and Nicholls were renamed Shane Thorne and Nick Miller, respectively, while TMDK was renamed TM-61. They debuted on the May 25 episode, losing to Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Later that year, TM-61 took part in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, defeating Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli in the first round on the October 12 episode of NXT. TM-61 went on to defeat Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton of SAnitY on the November 9 episode of NXT to advance to the final. The final would take place on November 19 at TakeOver: Toronto, where TM-61 were defeated by The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar).
After TM-61 defeated The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) on the January 18, 2017 episode of NXT, Wilder and Dawson would attack them. As a result, Thorne suffered a knee injury. After returning from injury in September, TM-61 made their in-ring return on the January 31, 2018 episode of NXT, beating The Ealy Brothers (Gabriel Ealy and Uriel Ealy). TM-61 then took part in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, however, they were eliminated by The Authors of Pain in the first round on the March 7 episode of NXT. On the June 6 episode of NXT, TM-61 was renamed The Mighty. After a feud with The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford), The Mighty wrestled their last match for NXT on the December 12 episode, losing to Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan.
On December 14, Miller was released from WWE, disbanding The Mighty as a result.
Reformation (2022-present)
On the March 5, 2022 episode of New Japan Pro Wrestling STRONG, Haste would assist Bad Dude Tito and JONAH in defeating FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson). As a result, JONAH and Haste reformed TMDK. On the April 2 episode of STRONG, FinJuice defeated JONAH and Haste by disqualification after Haste attacked Robinson with a steel chair. After, Robinson challenged TMDK and Tito to a Six Man Tag Team Street Fight at Windy Ciot Riot, which was accepted. At the event on April 16, FinJuice and Brody King, who was revealed to be their mystery partner, defeated TMDK and Tito.
At Capital Collision on May 14, Mikey Nicholls was reunited with TMDK, teaming up with Haste, Tito, and JONAH to defeat Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis of United Empire. After, Tito officially joined TMDK. Haste and Nicholls then went on to compete in a tournament to crown the inaugural STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions. The pair would advance past the first round after defeating West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs), however, they were eliminated by Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura in the semifinal. During July and August, JONAH would compete in the 2022 G1 Climax, finishing second with eight points in Block A. At Declaration of Power on October 10, JONAH was defeated by Kazuchika Okada, who JONAH had scored a win over in the G1 Climax. At the end of the year, Haste and Nicholls took part in the World Tag League, finishing third with twelve points, failing to advance.
At Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023, Zack Sabre Jr. would join TMDK after winning the NJPW WORLD Television Championship, replacing JONAH, who had left the faction to return to WWE. The following night, at New Year Dash!!, Sabre Jr. would recruit young lion Kosei Fujita into TMDK. In March, Sabre Jr. would represent TMDK in the 2023 New Japan Cup, receiving a bye in the first round, only to be eliminated by Shota Umino in the second round on March 15. On March 21, after Hiromu Takahashi successfully defended his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, it was announced via a video that Robbie Eagles had joined TMDK and would challenge Takahashi.
In wrestling
- Finishing double team moves
- Tank Buster (Diving DDT (Haste) and over the shoulder facebuster (Nicholls) combination)
- Thunder Valley (Sitout powerbomb (Nicholls) and chokeslam (Haste) combination)
- Signature double team moves
- Fist drop (Nicholls/Miller) and standing moonsault (Haste/Thorne) combination)
- Entrance themes
Championships and accomplishments
- Australian Wrestling Alliance
- AWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Rock
- Explosive Professional Wrestling
- EPW Championship (8 times) – Nicholls (2), Haste (1), and Pitt (5)
- EPW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Haste and Nicholls (1), and Rock and Pitt (1)
- Melbourne City Wrestling
- Melbourne City Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Sexton
- Melbourne City Wrestling Intercommonwealth Championship (1 time) – Rock
- Melbourne City Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Marcius Pitt and Slex
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- NJPW WORLD Television Championship (1 time) - Sabre Jr.
- Pacific Pro Wrestling
- Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Rock
- Pro Wrestling NOAH
- GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Haste and Nicholls
- Global Tag League Fighting Spirit Award (2015) – with Haste and Nicholls
- Ring of Honor
- Rise and Prove Tournament (2012) – Haste and Nicholls
- Tokyo Sports
- Best Tag Team Award (2013) – Haste and Nicholls
- Wrestle Rampage
- Wrestle Rampage Australian National Championship (1 time) – Rock
- WrestleRock
- WrestleRock Championship (1 time) – Sexton
